Blackduff...I hope you see this, just some advice on driving from Barcelona to Paris, is it really 10 hours, is it a beautiful ride? Any interesting stopping points?
Any advice is appreciated. Thanks,

Susan

I am very sorry, but the distance is 1038 km, meaning 9 to 10 hours (especially the last 10km within Paris can take another hour).

The ride goes through the massif central, a mountain range with some volcanoes near Clermont-Ferrand. Maybe this is a place for a break.

But I would drive through, just making some short stops to stretch and relax a bit.

An alternative, but a significantly longer drive, would be through the Rhone valley. Then I would recommend an overnight stay in Bourgogne (Beaune or one of the small towns in the vineyards).

We did it with a couple of nights in Lyon. The autoroute along the Rhone valley is unappealing, with truck after truck in the right lane. I would not consider any ride on the autoroute as particularly beautiful.

This is a real problem with motor ways throughout europe. No one wants to live next to them so they tend to be in unattractive areas. They are necessary though - Barcelona to Paris would be 2 to 3 days of hard driving otherwise. It also depends on the car - small hire cars are uncomfortable for a long journey and struggle to maintain 120kmh up the hills.

I never had speed problems with a standard shift Clio diesel, which is about the smallest car that is available as a rental (or the Peugeot 206 which worked just as well). I was cruising at 150 kph before the speed crackdown.